Angels Cry
by Sasukeluva 4eva
Summary: The events of Uchiha Sasuke's early life, from when he first bonds with Itachi, learned to walk, and when he finally says his first word... A ONESHOT I WROTE FOR SASUKE-KUN'S BIRTHDAY! Please R&R!  :


**NOTE: NYAAAAAAAAAAAH, this is dedicated to my beloved hubby Sasuke-kun! XD HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART! {23rd of July, 2010}  
**

**a/n: New oneshot. Prepared for Sasuke-kun's birthday. Named after the song **_**'Angels Cry'**_** by **The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus**; my boy-band drug right now (that isn't Screamo or Japanese). Enjoy. :D**

**Disclaimer: IDNON, BIDHTOS! That is all.**

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**Sasukeluva 4eva presents;**

**A**_ n _g _**e**__ l _s_** C**_r_y~_

_A Sasuke x Itachi Oneshot_

* * *

"WAAAAAH!"

The ear-splitting cry of a newborn infant tore through the otherwise silent corridor, startling the young Uchiha boy from his light slumber and rendering him evidently conscious; his father gazed down at him stolidly for the briefest of moments, internally amused that he had been trying in utter futility to remain awake throughout the duration of his mother's labour—and it was just fitting to say that it was by far _way_ past his original bedtime, especially for a five year old such as he.

Fugaku honestly thought that he should have left him with his aunt and uncle so that he could receive the much needed sleep that all children his age required, but the young boy had insisted that he be there for both his mother, and the arrival of what was supposed to be his new little brother or sister; he didn't want them to grow up thinking that their 'aniki' had abandoned them instead for the appeal of utter tranquillity that was sleep, and the things that said thing could do for a human being, aside from the obvious.

"Itachi, if you are tired, then sleep my boy; you can always see your mother and your baby sibling after you have rested."

"But oto-san!"

Fugaku found himself slightly uncomfortable with the endearment that his eldest child had used to address him; being called _father_ when ideally all small children referred to their parents as 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' brought a resounding ache to his heart—it seemed that already his intimidating demeanour had affected his son's growth, reception and perception of the life that surrounded him.

He already _knew_ how to address an adult in a formal occasion; but what he had never learned was _how_ to address his _spouses_ according to how he truly _felt_.

Sighing exasperatedly at Itachi's blatant display of stubborn determination, Fugaku simply smiled quietly to himself, piquing the young Uchiha's attention instantly, the cocking of his head to one side enough to only make the expression on the elder man's face more pronounced; he really had taught his son well—a little too well in terms of adherence to common courtesy and painful politeness.

"Tou-san? What is it? What's wrong?"

Itachi questioned, perplexed by his father's strange attitude; normally he was the ever so stoic man that never paid him much heed, let alone _worried_ for him and _smiled_ for his unabashed curiosity—some _very_ strange things were occurring.

Was it because he was suffering withdrawal symptoms from Mikoto?

Itachi may have only barely grasped the concepts of love and sex, but it still confused him quite some; at times his father could be so rashly abusive toward his mother that it seemed as if they truly despised one another, but again that theory was contradicted when the strange noises began later on in the evening, when they assumed that the young boy was fast asleep.

In fact, not only was it then that they had decided to explain what both of the former subjects were about (and all of the gruesome details as to what needed to be done in order to initiate them), but it was also around that time—after an extensively worse-than-usual argument that resulted in punches being exchanged—that the latest edition to their family had been conceived; Itachi remembered more vividly than he would have liked just how loud and 'intimate' it had gotten.

As did the rest of the Uchiha compound.

They had to live with the shame for the rest of their lives.

But at least the end result was worth it.

Fugaku allowed his coal orbs to rest and linger on Itachi's features, warming at the sight of the very creature that he had Mikoto had created together only five years earlier; it was peculiar to think that their family was already expanding in such a short period of time.

But he didn't mind, not in the slightest.

With a heart full of what could be recognised as 'joy', Fugaku scooped Itachi up into his arms, cradling him to his chest and humming softly as he waited for the boy to allow himself a proper moment's peace; and it came crashing down upon him in tidal waves, the lush lull of the slow swaying motions dragging Itachi beneath the magnetic pull of darkness that lay beyond the doors of light that he constantly found himself bathing in.

* * *

Itachi vaguely noted the change of setting, and slowly peeked through the long lashes of his right eye to see that he was lying on a plush comforter, a thick doona tucked around him and smothering him with much warmth, affection and love; it seemed that even in her state of utter exhaustion, his ka-san had insisted that he be warm and comfortable, probably even attempting to do it in her current state—tou-san surely wasn't going to tolerate that sort of behaviour, now, would he?

The likelihood that he had done it himself seemed slightly unsettling; his father had never done anything remotely affectionate toward him that he could remember, until this very night, and he was beginning to worry the five year old.

Did it have something to do with his new sibling?

Was something wrong?

The panic rose in Itachi's very being as he shot upright, throwing off the woollen blanket before sliding quietly to the tiled flooring of the hospital room, making sure not to awaken his slumbering parents, who were currently wrapped up in each other's arms with contented smiles on both parties faces; it seemed that at least they were finally at ease for a short prelude.

Tip-toeing stealthily across the room, Itachi came to a stop at the pedestal alongside the hospital bed that his tou-san and ka-san were sleeping in, the cot in itself slightly taller than he was, which soon became quite the impediment and hindrance to the now fuming little boy; why did he have to be so short?

Pouting angrily, Itachi racked his brain for a solution, and soon came up with one; moving lithely through the confined space of the claustrophobic 'bedroom', the raven haired child carefully picked up the wooden stool in the very corner of the room, carrying it cautiously to where the cradle was positioned, eerily stilled with the notions of night time and bathed in the cold slivers of silver moonlight that filtered through the paned window, setting it down before stepping carefully onto it, making sure to maintain his balance like he had been learning at the Ninja Academy.

With that, Itachi peered over the edge of the small cot, his onyx orbs zeroing in on the tiny figure that resided within it; there lay one of the most unusual babies he had ever seen, and he could safely conclude that it was indeed a boy.

The newborn seemed to have inherited most of his mother's features, only a testament to the fact that he would grow up to be the resident 'pretty boy' within Konohagakure, with his small nose, smooth ivory skin (the redness had ebbed away), and full, pouty lips; but what really intrigued him was the baby's hair—not only did he have a whole head full of it, but it was, as far as Itachi could tell, _spiked up_ at the back, in what appeared to be a natural fashion. If anything, the infant was starting to resemble the rear-end of a chicken.

And no Uchiha had _ever_ had hair like this child's, that was a given.

It seemed that his mother had given birth to the rarest of specimen that the Uchiha clan had ever seen (were _yet_ to see); and something about that thought made Itachi _proud_ to be his older brother.

As if on cue, the small baby's eyes fluttered open, revealing eyes as black as midnight and lashes as long as his ka-san's fingernails framing the obsidian orbs, the infant looking up at Itachi calmly, as if he _knew_ who he was; and perhaps he did.

Without really thinking, Itachi reached in, curious, allowing his hand to hover above his new little brother's face in a careful manner; he did not wish to frighten him. But again the child surprised him with his reaction.

The small newborn reached up, his tiny right hand curling completely around one of his left hand's fingers, clutching it experimentally as he gazed up at the larger figure above him through thick, long lashes; his large eyes made him unbelievably—and unbearably so—cute to Itachi, and he couldn't help but feel the instant connection with the baby; he hadn't thought that it would be like this, these overwhelming feelings he was currently processing, experiencing for the first time.

He hadn't expected to be so _attached_ to the small child already, in such a short amount of time, but he was, and that was what counted; never had he felt so warm, _complete_, before.

Perhaps this child was the reason for his existence?

The reason he was brought into the world?

Itachi smiled at the thought; he would like to think so.

Daintily, Itachi raised the child from the cradle, preparing for the imminent bout of tears and screams that would be sure to follow; they never came.

His little brother seemed to be completely comfortable with the transition, perhaps even _preferred_ it over the cot, as he seemingly snuggled into the older sibling's chest, a light flush dusting his plump cheeks as he sunk into Itachi's embrace; said brother cradled the infant to his breastbone, a small smile moulding into his lips as he continued to hold him, unbeknownst to Itachi that he was under the watchful gaze of his parents, both smiling at the exchange and interaction between the two brothers—now they had no need to worry about the symptoms of withdrawal that the older boy would feel over them coddling the newborn.

Because they knew that from then on, the two would be inseparable.

"Hello, Sasuke."

* * *

Itachi sat on the porch of the Uchiha household, Sasuke wrapped in a sling that wound around the older boy's neck; the three month old infant was sound asleep, so it made watching over him all the more simple for Itachi—he didn't have to worry about putting on a facade in order to cheer him up, and he could enjoy the pristine silence that enveloped the compound. Mikoto and Fugaku had gone out to collect the groceries, and left Itachi responsible for babysitting his ototo while they were away; not that the responsibility was too much for him to handle—not with all of the time that he spent with the tiny baby outside of training and academy lessons.

There was something eerily unsettling about the silence that had engulfed the entire village, and even more worrying was the dark and morbidly insane proportions of chakra that was leaking out somewhere not too far from where Itachi was.

And it seemed to have finally made its presence known to Sasuke too, as his face scrunched up, a menial whimper leaving his lips, before he opened his mouth and began to scream his lungs out, tears clinging to the corners of his closed eyes as he hollered uncontrollably; Itachi hushed him gently, rocking back and forth as he spoke softly into the darkness of the night.

"There, there. Don't cry Sasuke. As your big brother, I'll always protect you, no matter what."

And his words of calming reassurance seemed to have had the desired effect; Sasuke's whimpering slowly ebbed away and ceased, the small infant hiccupping as he opened his onyx orbs to gaze up at Itachi, his lips parting as he babbled inanely in his own little language—Itachi simply thought it was the most adorable thing he had ever heard.

Smiling down at the child, the raven haired boy couldn't help but think that even though there was sure to be an impending disaster, as long as he had Sasuke, everything would eventually work itself out—everything would be just fine as long as Itachi had Sasuke in his arms.

* * *

Mikoto and Fugaku watched with silent glee as Sasuke took his very first steps, the toddler stumbling before collapsing to the ground; but every time he did so, he simply scrunched his brow in silent concentration and pushed himself from the wooden planks of their home to try again. He was as determined as Itachi had been all those years ago.

The sound of approaching footsteps from the outside had a huge grin forming on Sasuke's face as he tottered forward, waddling awkwardly from side to side until he had a proper feel for his legs, the raven haired tot charging with as much power as he could toward the open door; from there, Sasuke and his developing mind could only make out one person—his big brother.

Smiling widely, Sasuke stumbled toward the steps in front of their home, kneeling over so that he could carefully lower himself onto each individual one; after several prolonged moments of struggle, Sasuke finally managed to get a landing for his feet, and he was off again, tottering toward his aniki, whom was walking with Shisui, the pair in what appeared to be deep conversation.

It was the older boy that pointed out with a grin the approach of the raging baby brother.

Itachi felt his heart leap and lurch at the same time, one for joy that his ototo was finally taking his first steps—toward _him_ of all people—and the other for the fear of the small toddler tripping and hurting himself.

Itachi stepped forward just in time to have the small bundle tackle him around the legs, the little tot babbling and cooing excitedly like he always did whenever he was with or around Itachi, and even _he_ could not contain the overwhelming sense of pride and happiness that he felt for his brother's first huge feat—and one that he had done solely for him.

* * *

Sasuke waddled cutely through Konoha's main marketplace, his large onyx orbs wide and in awe of all that he saw along the way; he had never left the Uchiha complex before, and although he didn't completely recognise it, he knew that he had never seen or been where he was before—and he simply _adored_ all of the attention he was receiving.

Mikoto held his little hand as he continued to babble incoherent things to himself, repeating certain sounds as if he were trying to enunciate it correctly; both Mikoto and Fugaku were worried about the fact that he had yet to speak, and when they had visited a specialist in the field, they said that it was perfectly normal for a toddler of his age to still be learning how to properly pronounce and formulate sentences, or even simple words.

They just had to give it time, and allow Sasuke his own pace to learn.

Young and older women alike flocked over to ruffle his hair, touch his face, hold his free hand, give him sweets, all the while complimenting on his absolute cuteness to the relatively smug and bashful (care to take a guess as to which is which?) parents; Sasuke didn't know why they were all being so nice, but he couldn't comprehend much at that time, so he simply smiled and cooed at the nice ladies, earning squeals of utter delight from said females.

After a few more minutes of prodding and candy-giving, the Uchiha family were on their way, Sasuke tottering forward confidently as he searched through the crowd in the hopes that he would recognise someone; so far, all he could see were the bottoms of peoples' legs. But that didn't deter him in his quest.

And whilst he searched impatiently with his curious, wide eyes, he slowly began to mumble distinct noises out loud, for Mikoto's entertainment.

"Taaashi... Taaashi... Eeee-taaaah... Taaashi..."

"Honey, what is it?" Mikoto prodded with a smile; this was it, he was going to say his first word!

Sasuke simply tilted his head to the side, smiled cutely with a small flush of pink flecking his cheeks, before he stumbled forward and threw his chubby arms around her neck, chortling and giggling as he nuzzled his cheek against the hollow of her throat; Mikoto laughed wholeheartedly, forgetting her earlier anticipation instead to smother her precious baby boy with all the attention he wanted, bobbing him up and down as she walked alongside Fugaku, who could no longer remain impassive to the utterly adorable child that was his.

He reached out a large, tanned hand, ruffling the tot's hair long enough for Sasuke to remove his face from his mother's neck, and instead placing his attention on his father; grinning, the miniature version of 'Mikoto' outstretched his chubby arm, the dimples on his knuckles enough to have Fugaku melt completely (on the inside, of course) as he touched the older man's face, prodding at his cheek before trailing up to his left eye, his blunt nails grazing lightly over his eyelid as Sasuke's attention was diverted to Fugaku's nose—and with that, he gave a powerful squeeze.

All Fugaku could say was that his youngest son was quite strong in terms of physical strength.

His nose was sure to be sore for the next few days. Thankfully, it didn't take long to distract Sasuke, as a red and black butterfly fluttered past and caught his attention, the tot instantly freeing Fugaku's nose from his snaring fist only to reach out for the pretty creature that was now flying in the opposite direction; almost in a fit of distress, Sasuke squirmed in Mikoto's arms, repositioning himself so that he could watch the colourful critter fly further away.

Tears sprung to life in his eyes, but they were instantly quelled when he saw _where_ the butterfly had ended up; suddenly his rambling had returned, in full force. Sasuke wriggled out of Mikoto's grip, stumbling forward as quickly as his stubby legs would carry him, all the while uttering the same confusing babble he had been murmuring before.

"Taaashi! Eeee-taaaah! Eeee-taaaah! Taaashi!"

Soon his babble became more coherent, and with that, too, so did its volume; suddenly Sasuke was shouting it out at the top of his lungs, his face turning beet red with effort as he tried to say what he had been so desperately trying to earlier on.

His stumbling had become an ambling run of sorts, his cries never dying down, even as he drew the stares of many bystanders; he did not care, as he was determined to get this right.

"Eeee-taaaah! Eeee-taaaah! Taaashi!"

And with one final puff of breath, Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, his face pink with the effort of both running and screaming inanely, before letting out one final shriek of babble, that actually made far more sense now that he had managed to say it correctly.

"Eeee-taaaah-CHIIII!"

Everything went quiet as the young boy of eight in question turned from the amazingly beautiful butterfly outside of the academy's gates to see three year old Sasuke standing in the middle of the street, his face flushed with vibrant colour, his arms tensed outwards at his sides as he clenched his fists, his onyx orbs furrowed as he breathed in steadying breaths; wait... had _Sasuke_ been the one to have called out his name?

Mikoto and Fugaku stood there, dumbfounded; had he been trying to say 'Itachi' all along?

All they could do was smile (Mikoto squealed and literally jumped for joy) as they watched Sasuke totter over to where Itachi stood, his obsidian pools melding with Itachi's as he tugged at the older boy's pants, almost desperate to know if he was right.

"Eee-taah-chi?"

Slowly, Itachi knelt down so that he was at eye level with Sasuke, and did the unexpected; he pulled him into an embrace, even amongst an audience of strangers, burying his face into the small crook of Sasuke's neck as he nodded mutely, thanking the gods that his hair and Sasuke's shielded his tears from view.

"Yes Sasuke... Yes..."

* * *

Itachi watched the four year old form of his ototo sleep, the raven haired Uchiha having a bad feeling about something in the near future; he _never_ wanted to see this precious boy cry over him, or anything _he_ had caused, not _ever_.

But then why was it that he had such a profound feeling of sorrow curling in his stomach now that he looked at Sasuke's naive innocence?

Sighing sadly, Itachi tried to comfort himself with the memories of Sasuke growing up, until this very point in time; from the first time they bonded, to his complete faith and trust in him, to his first steps toward him, to the day he first said his name.

All of that was enough to reassure Itachi of one thing; no matter how far apart they became, Sasuke would _always_ be the one true source of light and joy in his life.

Nothing would ever change that.

Nothing ever could.

With a small smile settling in place of the frown, Itachi lifted the covers of Sasuke's blanket, curling up alongside his brother's sleeping form, said ototo rolling over and snuggling into Itachi's ever-present warmth—it was all Itachi could offer at this point.

But then again, it was the only thing that Sasuke would ever want and need.

Leaning forward, Itachi whispered softly into the shell of Sasuke's ear, so not to disturb him completely, "Happy birthday, Sasuke."

* * *

**a/n: KYAAAAAH! I LOVED WRITING THIS! XD**

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And of course I love these two in the same fic! Why wouldn't I?

My ending message is; HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE! ITACHI WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU, NO MATTER WHAT, SO PLEASE KEEP ON SMILING! ILYSFM!

**Please review if you want to wish my hubby a happy birthday! XD**

**Until next time! ;)**

**Ja ne! x)**

***-Sasukeluva 4eva out-***


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